Lux Beatissima

There are so many corners, so many winding labyrinths in my heart, in which variety of concupiscence lies hid, that unless You search it narrowly they will escape untouched. It is not much unlike the cups of hypocrites, which were fair without, but filled within with rapine and uncleanliness. Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum (Prove me, O God, and know my heart). You are the Searcher of hearts and reins; only You have eyes which look into the depth of human souls. Search mine thoroughly, that no corner may lie unseen, no secret may escape unknown. You will find there many corners filled with many and unseemly loves,--all sensual, which divide my heart among them and steal it from myself. But please enter into these innermost retreats, hunt all those little foxes out quoe demoliuntur vineas (that destroy the vines), and fill them with Your light, enlighten them with Your love, that those children of darkness, those transitory loves, may never enter again. O Lux beatissima, reple cordis intima (O blessed Light, fill the depths of my heart)

~Rev. Richard Johnson (17th c.)

Suppliant of the Holy Ghost, chapter 12:3